Thursday, July 21, 2011

Displaying Kids Artwork

For a while now, I have been trying to figure out a cool way to hang up my kids artwork. I've done some research on-line and basically just thought about it (my husband calls that procrastination.) However, last week, my oldest came up and asked, "remember that heart I made, can we hang it up?" I immediately went into panic mode. What heart? Did I throw it away? If I kept it, where did I put it? My calm response was, when you wake up from your nap, I will have it hanging. Since my daughter doesn't forget a thing, I went on a desperate search. Luckily for me, I liked the heart and had kept it, whew! After that, I knew I needed to stop putting things off and actually find a way to display their masterpieces.

My first thought was to make their artwork look a little more upscale by possibly putting them in frames or scanning them and turning them into books or putting a few of the scanned pictures together to create one unique piece. After much debate I decided a clothesline approach would work best for us. The pictures are easy to put up and take down. Plus, you get to see the real deal, not a picture of what they made. The placement of where I would hang the clothesline was a debate in itself. My original thought was to hang them in the basement with all of the other kid stuff. Then, I decided I would hang them front and center, right by the front door for everyone to see (that is the point, right?)

My kids love it! They make sure to show everyone who comes over what they have made. Plus, it's a great conversation starter if my kids decide they need a little time to warm up.

Here are a few of the ideas I came across while trying to decide how to display my kids artwork.

1. Creating your own frames. I love this idea, but I am not creative enough to do it.

4. One big canvas. I think this is a fabulous idea! I see myself taking the best of the best and combining them all together for a piece of art that will last a lifetime.

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5. Photo book. I have used both Snapfish and Shutterfly to make photo books in the past. My kids are working on coloring through the ABC's. Once finished, I will take a picture of all 26 pages then put them into a book. Other ideas would be to group watercolors, sculptures out of clay or even Lego's, or things they have cooked in the kitchen.

In case you were wondering, I did hang the heart up, but Addison asked if I could put it on the sliding glass door. So, of course, I did.

About Me

I am a stay at home mother of 4 (4 and under) and we are about to emark on our homeschooling journey. I am a laid back mom with high energy and never ending patience. I enjoy all sports, but I especially enjoy playing volleyball with my husband. I also enjoy traveling, but our trips are few and far between these days.